“How can this be linked to the Outer Gods?”
After investigating for so long, most of the evidence pointed to the Sun Card’s effect.
“Could it be that I was biased from the start?”
Ever since soone ca to cause trouble for Loren with the Justice Card, Loren had developed a habit: whenever he encountered sothing that matched the Observer Tarot cards’ effects, he’d instinctively assu it involved the Tarot.
Hearing Casper put it that way, it really did resemble an Outer God’s power. Outer Gods excelled at beguiling people’s hearts.
“Why do you think that?”
Still, Loren intended to ask Casper for details. Casper was earnest, and if he said it, there had to be a basis.
“I caught a follower of an Outer God. I sensed the Outer God’s presence, and when I followed him I found him blending into the crowd and spreading rumors.”
“Take there.”
Loren stood up abruptly. This was a crucial lead.
The mastermind wouldn’t personally spread rumors on the frontline. He might not be the mastermind himself, but he could definitely provide Loren with a key clue.
“Yes, Master ntor.”
Casper looked a little excited; he had finally been useful to Loren.
If he really helped Loren solve this incident, Loren would surely tell him whatever he wanted to know.
“Over here.”
Casper led Loren to the academy’s basent, a storage area. In the middle of the basent was a man trapped inside a tree trunk.
The thod was the sa as the one used on Noah before: the tree continually drew a person’s nutrients, leaving them unconscious but not dead. It was very handy for imprisoning people.
“Release him.”
Loren had already drawn Requiem, ready to interrogate him.
“Yes, Master ntor.”
Casper dispelled the magic, the trunk vanished, and the man fell to the ground.
Normally, even if soone were freed at a mont like this, they wouldn’t regain consciousness quickly; without rescue their life might be at risk. Yet after only a few seconds, the man staggered to his feet.
His awareness slowly returned. When he saw Loren, the confusion in his eyes hardened into resolve and hatred, like soone about to tear Loren apart alive.
“Loren!”
Loren didn’t bother with words. Before the man could move, Loren had already pinned him to the wall with a single slash.
The cut extinguished the man’s hopes and injected terror into his heart, but it did nothing to dull his hatred; his gaze toward Loren remained unchanged.
“Who are you?”
Loren asked, but the man had no intention of answering. He snarled:
“I ca to kill you!”
At that, Loren drew Requiem and kicked the man squarely in the face before he could steady himself.
The man’s teeth flew out; his head struck the ground with a heavy thud.
Requiem pierced his thigh, then tore into his arm, rending his limbs to ribbons and cutting his hope off entirely.
“Who exactly are you?”
Loren didn’t care about the man’s backstory, didn’t want to hear if he’d suffered a tragic past. Loren only wanted his identity before killing the man’s whole family.
“I am… uh…”
The man, desperate, lost the last traces of vitality and also his will to hate or resist. Just before he could say his na, black smoke suddenly began to pour from his body.
Loren knew this black smoke well — it belonged to the God of Hatred. The man’s behavior matched that of a hatred cultist; Loren was now certain.
This ti the black smoke didn’t attack Loren. Instead, it consud the man’s body entirely.
“…”
Loren flicked Requiem, the blood on it sketching a pretty arc on the floor. Then he sheathed the blade.
“Master ntor… what should we do next?”
Casper panicked a little; the clue he’d finally found had just vanished.
“As long as we know which Outer God is behind this, it’ll be manageable. You did well. Now I can answer one of your questions.”
Casper trembled with excitent at those words.
“How… can one learn Super-tier Magic?”
“Create it yourself, or find it in an ancient super-era magic book. But those are contraband. Of course, the Orthodox Gods also have Super-tier Magic; you can ask them.”
Loren told Casper three thods in one breath. Casper’s smile froze instantly.
At his position, he understood the Church well. Of the three thods, self-creation had the highest chance of success.
“If you help resolve this completely, I’ll tell you a more feasible thod.”
Loren patted Casper’s shoulder and left the basent.
He always left himself plenty of wiggle room; “more feasible” didn’t an actually feasible.
Extinguishing the sun is easier than inventing a perpetual motion machine, but that doesn’t an extinguishing the sun is possible.
“Yes, Master ntor.”
In the old man’s eyes Loren even saw a glint of madness. Casper’s help ca as a genuine surprise to Loren, and Loren silently thanked his earlier habit of dangling unreachable promises — it had paid off.
…
By the ti Loren left it was almost the end of class. Loren half-heartedly faked an inspection, casually checked the students’ results, gave random grades, and dismissed them.
There was no need to grade properly. Excluding Paqina’s group, the highest score would definitely be Yvonne’s group.
Not awarding the prize directly to Paqina’s group was already Loren’s act of rcy.
After class Loren didn’t leave imdiately; he told Paqina the latest developnts.
Even after learning of the hatred cultist, Loren hadn’t entirely abandoned the possibility of the Sun Card being involved.
People in this world were too sly; diversion and misdirection happened every day.
“I’m leaving. Here, take this.”
Seeing that Paqina had no intention of following him, Loren tossed her a key.
“What… is this?”
Paqina looked puzzled as she examined the key.
“It’s my house key. You can co by anyti. You know where I live, right?”
Paqina nodded; she had been watching Loren secretly. Not only did she know Loren’s house location, she knew everything about everyone in Loren’s house.
“All right, see you next ti.”
Loren left. Paqina sat in the seat Loren had occupied and opened her notebook.
Her notebook recorded every word Loren had ever said and everything the papers had published about Loren.
“Master ntor said so many things to today…”
Paqina propped her chin on her hand and wrote down Loren’s words and actions from the day. She rembered every sentence so clearly she could write them down verbatim.
At the sa ti she pictured Loren’s expression and unconsciously wore an expression of happiness.
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